A few years ago, I read a great blog post about how you can read 52 books a year with limited effort. While I haven’t been able to quite hit that rate, I have managed to hit half that thanks to a commitment to always reading while I’m on public transportation.

I’ve read ~25 books a year for the last 3 years. 90% of them are fantastic, and so I’d like to highlight them in case you’re looking for a book on any of these subjects. (Note: The date represents when I finished reading it). If you have any recommendations, please leave a comment with the book and why it’s a must read!

Ratings Scale Explained:

• 9-10 – One of the best I’ve ever read on the subject. A must-read.
• 7-8 – Well worth the read if you’re interested in the subject.
• 6 – The book is only ok. It may be long-winded, redundant or just doesn’t pack enough of a punch relative to higher rated books.
• 0-5 – I do not recommend the book. Common causes of such a score: too much fluff, bad advice, nothing actionable or copying content from better books.

You can learn more about my approach to what books I read and why, by reading about it here.

Leadership

1. “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie (3.13.12)

• Rating: 10/10
• Why Read it: This is literally a timeless classic for anyone interested in leadership. Virtually everyone I know that has read this actually re-reads it regularly. No book can single-handedly do more to improve your skills with others. I’ve read this book at least 5 times now and find things to improve in myself every time I read it.
• Who Recommended: My father.

2. “The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership” by Bill Walsh (6.30.12)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: Bill Walsh is one of the most successful coaches in NFL history and more of his assistants went on to be successful head coaches than any other ever. This is his defacto book on his leadership approach and is filled with great insights.  It’s not every day you can get a first hand account of how a 3-time Super Bowl champion coach did it from day 1.
• Who Recommended: Jack Dorsey via Twitter.

3. “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C Maxwell (11.27.10)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it:  Growing as a leader has many stages that are all challenging. John Maxwell breaks each stage down and gives actionable advice on how to grow as a leader through each of the 10 levels. I’ve reread this book 3 times now and find new things to learn every time I read it.
• Who Recommended: My father.

4. “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” by Marshall Goldsmith (4.6.13)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read It: Writing a book for beginners is easy. When you know nothing on a subject, everything feels like an amazing insight. What makes this book great is that it’s not for beginners. As I learn more about various subjects, I’m always looking for books that will help me go deeper.  This book is excellent for anyone mid-career who knows they have leadership flaws they want to correct and strive for greatness.
• Who Recommended: Found on Amazon and was sold by reviews.

5. “The Cycle of Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach Their Companies to Win” by Tichy and Cardwell (9.13.10)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it:  How do you build great leadership into your company as it grows? This book dives into how Jack Welch and his team were able to build an organization full of leaders they could develop consistently.  It’s a long read, but well worth it if you have big questions about growing leaders in a scalable way.
• Who Recommended: Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty.

6. “Great by Choice” by John Collins (1.8.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: This is a classic business book trying to answer the question of “why are some businesses super successful and others fail?” It provides solid advice to apply to your business.
• Who Recommended: Tweet conversation with Dharmesh Shah and Rob May

7. “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu (5.10.12)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: This is a true classic on battlefield strategy. Much of it applies to startups and business. Definitely one to read and you can get it for free on Amazon.
• Who Recommended:  Found on Amazon Kindle free books

8. “The Starfish and the Spider” by Brafman & Beckstrom (2.29.12)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: When building an organization, you can build it like a starfish (independent arms that work together) or a spider (every limb answers to the top). This book does a good job of explaining the concept and how you can apply it to your company inside and out (especially if you have an API/ecosystem).
• Who Recommended: Abby Fichtner

- Culture & Communication

1. “Tribal Leadership” by Logan, King & Fischer-Wright (12.22.11)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: If you read only one book on culture, this is the one to read. It has an easy to follow process for identifying where you and your company are at and specifically how to get everyone on your team to a higher level.  I got Hiten to read it and he loved it so much every member of the KISSmetrics team got a copy.
• Who Recommended: Willis Jackson

2. “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh (5.7.10)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: Zappos is legendary for their culture. This book highlights both the Zappos culture and Tony’s theories on what drives happiness for people. As a bonus, you also get the story of how Zappos survived multiple near death experiences to become the billion-dollar company it is today.
• Who Recommended: All of the twitterverse went crazy when this came out.

4. “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni (12.24.10)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: Not all startups succeed. Sometimes companies become a wreck with all kinds of people problems. This book highlights the five most common issues and most importantly, how to fix them with vivid examples.  If your team is struggling, this is well worth the read.
• Who Recommended: Jeff Bussgang via this blog post

5. “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi (2.11.11)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: Your network is one of the most valuable tools you’ll develop over the course of your career. This book teaches you the important skillset you need to start, grow and tend to your network effectively.  It also does a great job of emphasizing the Pay It Forward model, which there can never be enough people bought into.
• Who Recommended: Ryan Durkin

6. “The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey” By Ken Blanchard (8.28.10)

• Rating: 6.5/10
• Why Read it: This book teaches you one concept, and it’s an important one. Think of every task as a monkey. The monkey is always on someone’s back. The key is to recognize this and make sure the right person has the monkey on their back. If this is a foreign concept, it’s well worth the quick read.
• Who Recommended: Laura Fitton

7. “Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High” by Kerry Patterson (6.20.12)

• Rating: 6.5/10
• Why Read it:  In any startup, there are times of disagreement and tension. The key is to handle this conflict professionally and with as little fallout as possible.  There’s a right and wrong way to approach many conversations and this book does a solid job of helping you think through when and how to approach some of the tougher conversations you may need to have.
• Who Recommended: Steve Cox

8. “Micromessaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Words” by  Stephen Young (9.14.12)

• Rating: 6/10
• Why Read it: This is a book that takes a bit longer than it should to get it’s message across, but it is a good one: be mindful of the words you choose when working with others. Whether written or spoken, how you say something can have as much (or more) of an impact as what you’re trying to say.
• Who Recommended:  Steve Cox

Lessons from Leaders in Their Words

1. “Losing my Virginity: Lessons in Business & Life” by Richard Branson (10.25.2008)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: Richard Branson is the man. His story is incredible and well worth learning more about. He’s brutally honest (bordering on over-sharing) in his story and it’s a fun read on top of everything else. If you’re interested in startups or want to build your own empire, this is a great read to see how one of today’s legends got where they are.
• Who Recommended: Found it myself after Branson’s short-lived TV show

2. “The Art of Getting Money” by P.T. Barnum (3.25.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: A lot of good business advice is timeless. If you don’t believe me, reading this book from Mr. Barnum from long ago, should hit home; much of what he suggests is the same advice I’ve heard from those successful in business today.
• Who Recommended: Found on Amazon Kindle free books

3. “Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers (3.11.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: Derek built a company from scratch (CDbaby) almost by accident. He pursued his passions and that made all the difference. If you’re looking for a quick read that will inspire you to do the same, this is worth the read.
• Who Recommended: Gift from Nick Francis of HelpScout

4. “How to Win at the Sport of Business” by Mark Cuban (3.19.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: Mark Cuban was not always a billionaire. He wrote some awesome blog posts about his early days building companies and he has now adapted it into a small book. If you’re not familiar with his story, I found it pretty relatable and inspiring.
• Who Recommended: Saw Mark Cuban tweet about it.

5. “A Way to Wealth” by Benjamin Franklin (12.25.11)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: It’s a super-quick read filled with timeless sayings about life and business. I’m a quote-collecting junky, so this was a fun read for me. If you Google this book, you’ll find a bunch of free copies out there.
• Who Recommended: Found on Amazon after reading his autobiography.

5. “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” (12.11.11)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: If you’re curious what Ben Franklin’s life was like before the Revolutionary War, this is a surprisingly unbiased account (given it’s an auto-biography).  The best chapter by far is Chapter 9, where Franklin explains how he created a process for himself to become a much better, more disciplined person through self-accountability.
• Who Recommended:  Referenced repeatedly in another book I read.

Psychology & Behavioral Economics

1. “The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt (11.21.12)

• Rating: 10/10
• Why Read it: Whether you want to understand yourself or others, this book is incredible for helping you understand the underlying motivations and causes of happiness. It’s great for understanding both your personal and professional life and managing your relationships.
• Who Recommended: Matt Lauzon via Twitter

2. “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely (9.9.11)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: I’ve read many books on Behavioral Economics and this is the best. If you want to understand why people do the opposite of what you think would be logical, this book will help you get there.
• Who Recommended:

3. “What Every Body is Saying” by Joe Navarro (1.6.11)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: Written by an ex-FBI agent, this book will help you pick up on all the unspoken signals everyone around you is given off.  This book opened my eyes to a world I was basically blind and illiterate too.  I’m a more effective communicator and better understand my surroundings because of reading this.
• Who Recommended: Searched Amazon for best reviewed body language book.

4. “The Mating Mind” by Geoffrey Miller (6.29.11)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: We are not far removed from true tribal cultures; small villages that moved nomadically through the world is how man evolved for thousands of years. The way we evolved to survive in that world is now placed in our modern society, which creates many struggles and opportunitites. This book does an excellent job of helping you understand it and take advantage of it.
• Who Recommended: Dave McClure via his AARRR presentation

5. “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer (12.14.10)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: If you’ve ever wanted to understand how the human mind works on a decision making basis, this book is excellent for understanding both the why and what to expect; much of what we do is counter-intuitive to what you’d logically expect.
• Who Recommended: Prof. Compaine at Northeastern University.

6.  “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini (1.28.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: This is an excellent book on behavioral economics. It’s a great start if you’re new to the field.
• Who Recommended: Found it after another of his books

7. “The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz (8.19.11)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: When given too many choices, the average person struggles mightily to make a decision. This book is a fascinating investigation into the decision making area of behavioral economics.
• Who Recommended: Prof. Compaine at Northeastern University.

8. “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive” by Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini (6.10.10)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: Behaviorial Economics is the secret weapon of many marketing and sales tactics. If you just want a collection of rules you can quickly apply, this book is a great place to find them.
• Who Recommended:

9. “10 Powerful Personas” by Kevin Vogelsang (5.21.10)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: You’ll meet many different kinds of people in your life. Kevin does a great job highlighting some of the strongest and how to handle them.
• Who Recommended: I know the author, Kevin Vogelsang :)

Self-Improvement, Motivation & Reflection

1. “The Power of Full Engagement” by Loehr and Schwartz (11.2.12)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: If you’ve ever wanted to be more productive, happier and healthier, this book will help you get there (really). The authors have helped Fortune 100 CEOs and professional athletes reach their peak performance and this book will help you get there too. A few small changes I made based on reading this paid huge dividends.
• Who Recommended: Brian Balfour

2. “The War of Art: Break Through Your Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles” by Stephen Pressfield & Shawn Coyne (5.7.13)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: We all hit creative blocks in our lives. Some are bigger than others. This book helps truly capture the difficult to describe enemy that gets in your way of reaching your goals (and sometimes even starting). It also motivates you towards what you were truly born to do. It may sound cheesy, but trust me, it’s excellent.
• Who Recommended: Patrick Vlaskovits

3. “The Defining Decade” by Mel Jay (9.15.12)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: I think everyone in their 20s should read this book. There are important aspects of your brain that forms, as well as career and personal life decisions that are irreparably set in that time. I wrote a blog post (LINK) about this book previously if you want to know more.
• Who Recommended:  Read a blog post by the author.

4. “The Alchemist” by Paolo Coelho (5.1.12)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: Life is a challenging journey. I found this book helpful in making sense of the unconventional path I’ve been on. This is a very polarizing book, so you’ll either love it or hate it. It’s worth the read either way.
• Who Recommended:  Gift from college friend.

5. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (12.8.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: If you’re interested in learning about the basics of the Zen philosophy and how to meditate this is a great start. The book provides a thought provoking counter to the standard views on life we find in American culture.
• Who Recommended: Jabe Bloom

6. Sweet Potato Power by Ashley Tudor (3.18.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: The sweet potato is a super food we could all use to eat more of. In a world of carb-consciousness, the sweet potato rises above all as a healthy alternative that provides longer lasting energy and great sources of vitamins. This book teaches you how sugars and other foods affect your body, why the sweet potato is so great and closes with an awesome variety of recipes to make sweet potatoes a big part of your diet.
• Who Recommended: Chris Keller

7. “The Flinch” by Julien Smith (12.26.11)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: The human “fight or flight” response is an important evolutionary tool that kept us alive when we had many enemies and predators. Today it often prevents us from trying new things. This is a good, quick read that really hammers home the importance of recognizing that fear and overcoming it.
• Who Recommended: Recommended by Nick Francis of HelpScout

8. “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk (1.13.10)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: Want to get fired up to pursue your dreams and work damn hard to get there? This is a Gary V talk in book form.  If that sounds appealing, then I recommend this book.
• Who Recommended: Saw Gary V talk.

9. “The Dip” by Seth Godin (6.23.10)

• Rating: 6/10
• Why Read it: TLDR; if you’re struggling but feel like you’re onto something, you probably are just going through “the Dip”/”trough of sorrow”.  If you like Seth Godin, you’ll enjoy this book. It’s a quick read, so it won’t waste your time with too much filler on a concept that is worthy of understanding.
• Who Recommended: Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty.

Understanding Industry Trends

1. “The Master Switch” by Tim Wu (4.6.11)

• Rating: 10/10
• Why Read it: This is one of the most important books I’ve ever read. It will change the way you look at technology cycles. If you think the disruption that Google, Twitter or any of the companies consumerizing business apps is something new that’s never happened like this before, you’re completely wrong. Tim Wu carries you through the innovation of the telephone disrupting the telegraph all the way to present day in great detail. This book blew my mind.
• Who Recommended:  Blog post by Antonio Rodriguez

2. “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne (12.21.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read It: With the speed of innovation today, markets are becoming overcrowded very fast.  This book will help you think through how to get away from the “red oceans” (red from the blood of competition) and find wide open “blue ocean” opportunities. The authors do a great job of not only helping you think of new opportunities in your industry from every angle, but also how to get your team on board with changes. If you’re tired of fighting for “feature parity,” this is a great read.
• Who Recommended: Ashkan Afkhami

3. “Practically Radical” by William C. Taylor (3.3.11)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: Those who stick to the status quo will be left with average success at best. This book, by the one of the founders of Fast Company magazine, makes the case for this with some thought-provoking examples and stories.
• Who Recommended: Saw blog post by the author about it.

4. “The Mesh” by Lisa Gansky (3.8.11)

• Rating: 6.5/10
• Why Read it: If you’re interested in understanding the collaborative consumption movement (ie- car sharing, AirBnb, city bike sharing, etc), this book gives a great overview of the trends and opportunities.
• Who Recommended:  Gift from a friend

Product Management Skills

1. “Inspired” by Marty Cagan (3.31.12)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: This is the de-facto book for Product Management. I was recommended it many times over when I started my job at KISSmetrics in product. It’s as good as advertised and does a great job of covering all the key topics of product management at a web or mobile startup.
• Who Recommended: Multiple product people including Rose Grobowski and David Pitkin

2. “Thinking in Systems: A Primer” by Donella Meadows (10.13.12)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it:  The world is governed by systems, many of which are quite sophisticated.  Learning to understand how they work and more importantly, how to work them, is an important skill to develop in building systems in your company and understanding how markets work.  This is the de facto book to re-shape your mind to think this way.
• Who Recommended: Gift from Patrick Vlaskovits

- Design:

1. “Design of Every Day Things” by Donald Norman (2.21.12)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: This book changed how I look at doors; if you’ve ever struggled with whether to push or pull, that’s bad design. This book is considered the seminal book on the subject of design of physical products and it’s well deserved.  If you want to change your mind to think more clearly about design, this is the book to help you quickly do it.
• Who Recommended: Rose Grobowski

2. “Don’t Make me Think” by Steve Krug (4.19.10)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: The original usability book by Steve Krug is the best starter for anyone looking to learn the basics of the subject.  Nothing I’ve read helps crystallize as well the idea of your complicated user flow actually being a mess.
• Who Recommended: Many.

3. “Simple and Usable” by Giles Colborne (7.14.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: I felt like I often saw things that were good or bad design but didn’t know why. Using beautiful full page pictures and simple explanations, this book goes through great principles for building simple & usable apps and sites.
• Who Recommended: Read a blog post recommending it.

4. “The Non-Designers Design Book” by Robin Williams (7.26.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: If you’re like me, I knew nothing about fonts, layouts or basic usage of text before I read this. This book uses great, full-color examples to explain the basics of designs. If you don’t know the difference between a serif and a sans-serif font, this is a great place to start.
• Who Recommended: Read a blog post recommending it.

5. “Rocket Surgery Made Easy” by Steve Krug (6.2.10)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: If you want to learn the basics of usability testing to improve your app or site without breaking the bank, this is the book to get. It’s a quick read completely focused on getting you to actually do your own testing.
• Who Recommended: Many.

- Lean Startups / Customer Development

1. “The Startup Owner’s Manual” by Steve Blank (5.20.12)

• Rating: 9/10
• Why Read it: This is Steve Blank’s textbook to starting a company. It’s the Four Steps to the Epiphany, expanded and much more readable. If you want to deep dive into the Lean methodology, this is the book to read.
• Who Recommended: Gift from Hiten Shah

2. “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development” by Cooper & Vlaskovits (12.24.11)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: If you want to learn the basics of Customer Development in only an hour or two, this is the book to read. This is a book you can give to any member of your startup and have them understand the importance of and how to implement customer development in your company.
• Who Recommended: Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty. 

4. “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” by Steve Blank (1.4.12)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: This is the book that started the Lean Startup movement. While it is not an easy read, it is packed full of good information and helpful charts and guides.
• Who Recommended: John Prendergast

4. “The Lean Entrepreneur” by Cooper & Vlaskovits (2.26.13)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: It goes much further and deeper into how to approach actually doing Lean in your business than Eric Ries’s The Lean Startup book. It also has some awesome case studies showing how lean can apply to any industry. See my full review here.
• Who Recommended: Gift from the authors

5. “Getting to Plan B” by Mullins & Komisar (1.24.11)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: If your company is struggling because your initial idea isn’t working, this is the book to read. It provides a great blueprint for thinking through pivots for your business. As oneforty was considering pivots in Fall 2010, this book proved very helpful.
• Who Recommended: Read a blog post reviewing it.

6. “Little Bets: How breakthrough ideas emerge from small discoveries” by Peter Sims (5.13.11)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it:  If you ever needed convinced of the importance of why starting with a small experiment is really important this is the book to convince. With interesting stories from Pixar and amongst others, it makes a compelling case.
• Who Recommended: Blog post by author.

7. “What Customers Want” by Anthony Ulwick (7.19.10)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: This book was written before the Lean Startup movement, but espouses many of the same concepts. If you feel like you’re starting at zero in understanding what to do to become customer driven, this is a good place to start.
• Who Recommended: Professor Compaine at Northeastern University

- Creativity

1. “The Creative Habit” by Twylah Tharp (8.23.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: This is a great book for understanding how the creative process works. It left me with a lot of ideas I could apply to my day to day to be more creative. After living in the world of startups and business in real life and most of the books I read, it was great to hear how the different world of dance performance can be learned from.
• Who Recommended:

2. “Brainsteering” by Kevin & Shawn Coyne (10.23.11)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: Brainstorming sucks. If you don’t know that, read this book to understand why. If you know that but don’t feel like you have a great alternative, this is a book with a great process I have since used and found it to works great.
• Who Recommended:

3. “Where Good Ideas Come From” by Steven Johnson (5.2.11)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it:  If you’re looking for inspiration and understanding how inspiration comes to you. This is an interesting hybrid investigation of how to come up with ideas and the underlying psychology of doing so.
• Who Recommended:

Marketing

1. “Made to Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath (8.14.10)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: This is everything I want in a great book: actionable, easy to read and only as long as it needs to be. It’s loaded with great basic concepts of marketing today that you can definitely apply to your startup.
• Who Recommended: Professor Compaine at Northeastern University

2. “Switch” by Chip & Dan Heath (4.14.12)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: If you aren’t familiar with the concept of the Elephant and the Rider, go read the Happiness Hypothesis (see the Psychology and Behavioral Economics section above). After that, read Switch as it shows how to apply those motivating factors to both inspiring your team and marketing to your customers. Just like Made to Stick, it’s actionable, easy to read and only as long as it needs to be.
• Who Recommended: Read because of reading Made to Stick

3. “The Thank You Economy” by Gary V. (2.7.12)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: Is there a financially justifiable reason to send a customer an exorbitant gift like a football jersey? Gary makes a very compelling case for such a move and others like it.  It’s a great exercise in thinking about unconventional marketing opportunities.
• Who Recommended: Saw Gary V speak.

4. “Community Building on the Web” by Amy Jo Kim (10.29.10)

• Rating: 7/10
• Why Read it: If you need a 101 outline of the basics of how to build a community on the web regardless of your business type, this is a good, although now slightly dated, book to check out.
• Who Recommended:  Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty.

5. “Enchantment” by Guy Kawasaki (4.18.11)

• Rating: 6.5/10
• Why Read it: It’s a decent coverage of the concepts of planning how to delight your customers from your product’s design to how you support and serve them. However, it felt a bit like a poor man’s Thank You Economy, with less novel ideas and some filler.
• Who Recommended:  Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty.

Sales

1. “Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into A Sales Machine With The $100 Million Best Practices Of Salesforce.com” by Ross & Tyler (4.30.13)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it: If you’re looking to understand the basics of building and scaling a sales process and team, this book is a great primer. It also goes into great detail in how the author built a better, more reliable method than pure cold-calling to generate leads beyond the marketing team at Salesforce’s efforts.
• Who Recommended: Multiple coworkers @KISSmetrics were reading it

Startup Stories

1. “Founders at Work” by Jessica Livingston (3.12.10)

• Rating: 9.5/10
• Why Read it: If you’re just starting out in entrepreneurship and need to know what it’s really like, there is no better book to read. I found it amazing to find out just how ugly startups like Blogger got before they found major success.
• Who Recommended: Many.

2. “PayPal Wars” by Eric Jackson (7.27.11)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: Paypal survived the dot com crash to become a massively successful company. They also led to the Paypal Mafia, the most famous group of people formerly of the same company that went on to do other successful things. I wanted to know the story of the company and this book covers the good, the bad and the ugly of their journey to success.
• Who Recommended:

3. “Iconoclasts” by Gregory Berns (11.23.11)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: I read this because I was curious what sets the greatest entrepreneurs apart from everyone else? Where do they get their inspiration and how did they do it? While this book isn’t completely satisfying, it does provide a number of interesting insights into the likes of Steve Jobs and other such icons.
• Who Recommended:  Many.

4. “Do More Faster” by many TechStars mentors & alums (11.10.10)

• Rating: 7.5/10
• Why Read it:  Want advice from other entrepreneurs in short, easy to digest sections? Then this is the book for you. Every company that’s gone through TechStars submitted a lesson from one of its founders for this book.  What it lacks in depth, it makes up for in breadth.
• Who Recommended:  Gift from Laura Fitton to her oneforty team members.

5. “Buy This Book Before You Buy Facebook: A PandoDaily Expert Guide To The Internet’s Biggest IPO” by Pando Daily writers (5.26.12)

• Rating: 6.5/10
• Why Read it: If you don’t know how Facebook became what it is today, this is an interesting account of many of the key steps along the way.
• Who Recommended: Read teaser on PandoDaily

Startup How To’s

1. “The Art of the Start” by Guy Kawasaki (8.2.10)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it:  If you have no idea what it takes to start a company, this is a great book to start with. Guy does an excellent job of covering all the basics quickly and efficiently.
• Who Recommended:  Found on the company bookshelf when I worked at oneforty.

2. “Mastering the VC Game” by Jeff Bussgang (3.19.10)

• Rating: 8.5/10
• Why Read it: The interests of a Venture Capitalist are different than those of the entrepreneurs building a company they’ve invested in. Jeff does an awesome job of helping explain how you can get misaligned in your goals versus your investors. Fortunately, he also covers how to avoid it.
• Who Recommended: Got a copy because Jeff Bussgang was on @oneforty’s board

3. “ReWork” by Jason Fried and DHH (4.2.10)

• Rating: 8/10
• Why Read it: The team at 37 Signals have very strong opinions on how to build a company and much of it is solid advice to consider. This book is particularly great because it’s a simple, quick read; they do not waste your time with fluff.
• Who Recommended: Mike Champion & Robby Grossman.

Books I recommend you DO NOT read

1. “Competing on Analytics” (4.29.12)

• Rating: 1/10
• Why NOT Read it:  I found about 15 of the 200 pages interesting. The rest of it were empty case studies and platitudes that teach you nothing about how to actually do analytics or really anything else useful.

2. “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan (1.9.10)

• Rating: 2/10
• Why NOT Read it: I value the time I spend reading a book greatly, so nothing frustrates me more than a book that is drawn out to hit a page goal. Coming in at over 275 pages, this book should have been under 100.  If you know how to tweet and add value, you have nothing to learn from this book.

3. “Tipping Point” By Malcolm Gladwell (6.20.10)

• Rating: 3/10
• Why NOT Read it: If you’ve ever read Malcolm Gladwell’s books, you know the formula: 5-10 specific anecdotes and a rule he emphasis throughout.  Save yourself some time and read a blog post or review of the book.

4. “Startup Lessons Learned” by Eric Ries (10.12.10)

• Rating: 3/10
• Why NOT Read it: This is a collection of blog posts written on Eric Ries’s blog.  I think it’s much more efficient to search his blog when you have a question or interest in some aspect of lean.

5. “The Lean Startup” By Eric Ries (11.9.11)

• Rating: 4/10
• Why NOT Read it: If you actually want to learn how to actually BE a lean startup or how to actually do it, this book will not help you. If you want to learn the high level concepts only then this is a great book. The other books I have above I encourage you to read before this one if you want to truly learn and implement lean practices.